When transporting finished products from the point of manufacture to the point of sale, or to an intermediate storage facility, it is often desirable to enclose a quantity of products within a larger, more durable container. Not only does this preserve the products in their desired, saleable condition, but it minimizes the number of individual items to be handled and generally provides more uniformly shaped items for stacking and handling.
Through the years such containers have frequently taken the form of conventional, often rectangular, corrugated cardboard cartons having dimensions suitable for enclosing a predetermined number of finished products. While such containers have proven effective in protecting the finished products during transport and storage, they are generally inappropriate for retail display and the conventional approach involves removing the individual product items from the container and placing them individually on store shelving.
In an effort to provide a container more suitable for displaying products in a retail setting, containers have been developed which are convertible to a more open display configuration upon reaching the point of sale. Containers of this variety include those of a generally tray-like configuration with a removable cover. Although art-improvement over conventional corrugated containers, these containers still offer somewhat limited product access, particularly when such containers are in the midst of a stack of containers extending above and below.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a container which is suitable for shipping a plurality of products, yet provides for improved product access in a display setting. It would be further desirable to provide such a container which is easy to open and economical in its construction, yet durable in service.